The present invention relates to an improved portable hydrotherapy or whirlpool bath assembly of the type designed to be mounted on the side wall of a conventional bathtub and to be used to create a relaxing, soothing swirling or whirlpool effect in the water in the bathtub.
Hydrotherapy or whirlpool bath assemblies have long been used. Generally prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies, like the assembly disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,393, have included a motor housing, a pump housing and overhead support housing which interconnects the upper ends of the motor and pump housing so that the bath assemblies have inverted U-shaped configuration.
Conventionally, the motor housing is disposed on the outside of the bathtub, the pump housing is disposed within the bathtub, with its lower end immersed in the water in the tub, and the bottom wall of the overhead support housing rests on the upper edge of the tube side wall. A pumping chamber, including an impeller means, is mounted at the lower end of the pump housing, with the drive shaft of the impeller means extending vertically upwardly so that its distal end is adjacent to the upper end of the pump housing. An electric motor is mounted in the motor housing and is utilized to drive the upper end of the impeller shaft by means of a pair of pulleys and an endless belt disposed within the overhead support housing. During the operation of the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies, rotation of the impeller means within the pumping chamber resulted in a relaxing soothing stream of water being emitted under pressure, from the pumping chamber, and a person in the tub could immerse himself in the resulting swirling water so as to enjoy the beneficial effect thereof.
While the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies have generally performed their intended function satisfactorily, they have tended to be relatively heavy and rather bulky. The weight of the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies has limited, as a practical matter, those who are able to mount and dismount the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies on and off a bathtub. Moreover, the pump housings utilized with the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies have had, by necessity, to have a relatively large cross-sectional area because of the need to accommodate within this housing the bearings and other structure required to support and seal the vertical impeller drive shaft as well as the pumping chamber. Thus the pump housings of the prior hydrotherapy bath assemblies have frequently occupied quite a bit of space in the bathtub and have often projected quite far into the interior of the bathtub from the side wall of the tub. In addition, when it was desired to change the direction of the water being discharged from the pumping chamber, the entire pump housing would have to be turned about its vertical, longitudinal axis. Because of its weight and size, this turning of the pump housing has tended to be a somewhat awkward and sometimes quite difficult maneuver, particularly for someone outside of the tub.